Made for GF, who very kindly agreed to paint a portrait of S & Q for my sis (which by the way turned out way cool)!!! I love making customised wallets. No patterns, no rules...just a bunch of questions to find out what sort of features needs to be incorporated into the design of the wallet.

Frontal view of wallet (I love this fabric!)

Back view of wallet (with zippered compartment for loose change)

First glimpse of interior fabric

Inside details of wallet (note: special pockets for passport and travel pass)

So the countdown begins - 7 days left till Christmas Eve. Oy! I'm running low on time and there's still so much to be done before I head home to spend the holidays with my family. Obviously, I've not had much time to craft...but I couldn't resist making these when I saw them on Kiddley!!!

I don't usually post pictures of my knitting WIPs. Mostly because I'm a monogamous knitter, and also because I tend to work on smallish projects that knit up quickly. Having said that, I've been crafting up a storm lately (sewing and papercrafts) and my knitting is not prgressing as fast as I would like it to *sigh*

Here's my current project, a cherry leaf scarf using a Knit Picks yarn in garnet heather. I hope I finish this in 2007!

It's no secret that I love Hello Kitty (HK) themed items! While I've gotten over the urge to buy everything that has HK on it (Hello? Mortgage payments?!?), I still succumb to the occasional temptation. Ya know what beats commercially produced HK items? Hand-crafted HK items!!! Woot! Not so long ago, the wonderful MC sent me a lovely hand decorated HK box and I adore it! There were a bunch of other nifty goodies in it as well, but I really, really, love the box. Thanks for making my day, MC!

My first attempts at dyeing yarns! I've been experimenting with roving all summer but was a tad hesitant about working with yarns. Afterall, one could easily hide the undyed spots in roving when spinning it but yarns seem to be a smidge less forgiving. Anyhow, I'm chuffed that they didn't turn out too badly! On with the pictures!

I adore the print of this fabric! Not only is it a combination of pink and green, it also features apples! This fabric has been in my stash for awhile and for the longest time, I couldn't figure out what to make with it. Voila!

The front (complete with matching fabric-covered button closure):

The back (with pocket for mini cutter or scissors):

The inside of the needle book contains three leaves for the needles, and a mini pincushion for temporary needle storage:

Another batch of flower clippies for the niece! I can't believe the naughty girl has already misplaced/chewed/hid a couple from the last batch I sent her *exasperated* Oy vey. Ah, sucker that I am, I keep making and sending her more. I suppose that's what one does for her favourite (note: aka only) niece.

Tosh is quite the charming fella. He has been freelancing as a Chococat impersonator since the age of five. Someday, he hopes to be a sports journalist. When he's not working or studying, he usually rounds up his friends for a game of volleyball at the local beach. He has had a crush on Hello Kitty since the first time he met her!

Warning: Tosh is quite the prankster. He loves a good joke, but he draws the line at mean pranks!!!

My first attempt on a Liesel Scarf was done with a brown silk/cotton yarn. I ended up having to frog it when it was 90% complete (there was a small mistake 10 rows or so, from the start). Lesson learned!! Must check for mistakes as I knit!!!

Anyhow, I didn't feel like using the same yarn. For my second attempt, I picked a hand-dyed wool yarn. I like the results!

I've finally come to terms with the horrifying fact that I will never (and I do mean never!) be able to use up my stash of fabric and yarn in this lifetime. That sorta freaks me out. But what's a gal to do when there are all kinds of luscious yarns and gorgeous textiles begging to come home with me whenever I'm out browsing the shops?!? I reckon I have two options to assuage my guilty conscience:

Option 1: Go cold turkey. Stop buying yarns and textiles.

Option 2: Quit daydreaming and start being more productive in the craftroom.

Erm, yeah right. Seriously. I can think of gobs of reasons why Option 1 would be a bad idea. The first and foremost, being that my spending habits are good for the economy. Ahem. The rest of the reasons are moot in light of the first reason. Which brings us to Option 2. I suppose it's worth a shot. If anything, it will help keep my yarn and fabric stashes at an even keel (e.g. use one yard of fabric, buy one yard of fabric...use 2 skeins of yarn, buy 2 skeins of yarn).

That said, these are a couple of mini fabric destashing projects I worked on this week. Cool. I'm making progress!

My sister informed me that the wee niece has been chewing on her clippies. OMG. I'm pretty sure there's no lead-based paints on the clips, but one can never be too careful about these things. Here's the latest batch of flower clippies I made for the naughty chickie! Hopefully, they'll stay out of her mouth and stay put on her hair!